St Bernard Assure Limited, the Gibraltar-based insurer, has announced its expansion into the French direct insurance market.

St Bernard is the European underwriting arm of the Haverford group and has been operating in Gibraltar and Switzerland for the past 18 months. To date, the firm has been focusing on providing short-tail reinsurance solutions and online motor products. Based upon its initial success, the company has approved an expansion of its offering to other jurisdictions.

Earlier this month, St Bernard obtained permission from regulators to passport into France under the EEA’s freedom of services directives.

St Bernard CEO, William Fawcett, presented the new strategy to clients and stakeholders during the annual Baden-Baden Reinsurance meeting in Germany.

Mr Fawcett said: “The move into France marks the first step in a focused agenda to critically assess and take part in compelling opportunities. We strongly believe this move will provide sustainable, incremental growth to our insurance portfolio while adding some desired diversification.”

The firm said that, subject to obtaining the appropriate approvals, it plans to expand its business to other lines and jurisdictions during 2015.